EISENTRAUT WILL GO FOR RECORD NEXT SUNDAY - San Jose Mercury-news, 26 July 1914

From Wooljersey

EISENTRAUT WILL GO FOR RECORD NEXT SUNDAY

Berryessa Announces He Will Ride Again If Eisentraut Succeeds.

Here Are the Previous Marks

HERE are the previous records for the ride to Gilroy from the first one set by Ed Wastie in 1902 until Berryessa made his record-breaking performance in 1907:

Ed Wastie 1902 1 hr. 8 min.
Pete Castro 1907 1 hr. 6 min.
Plin Maggini 1907 1 hr. 1 min.
John Berryessa 1907 1 hr. flat.

THE attempt which "Dutch" Eisentraut will make to lower the bicycle record from San Jose to Gilroy, which was to have taken place today, has been postponed until next Sunday, owing to the fact that the road is badly broken up in places through the construction of the state highway. It is understood that the road will be in readiness for the test by next Sunday.

Interest in bicycling has taken a decided revival in local circles since the announcement that Elsentraut would go after the record of one hour flat which is held by John Berryessa, and a number of surprising features have developed. Most important among these is the announcement made by Berryessa yesterday that in case Eisentraut sets a new mark next Sunday he will start training immediately in an effort to regain his lost laurels.

A number of other riders have expressed a desire to try for the record and the run to Gilroy promises to furnish some good sport for the future.

That Eisentraut will succeed in making a new record is the opinion of old wheelmen who have seen him ride. He is not only a powerful pedal pusher, but he will have everything in his favor when Berryessa made his record the county highway consisted of crushed rock and was anything but smooth. The recently constructed concrete state highway provides a surface as smooth as any paved street. He will be paced by a motorcycle, as were his predecessors, but the motor will carry a shield to break the wind.

At any rate, Eisentraut will be forced to the limit if he wishes to lower Berryessa's time. The distance from San Fernando and Second streets in this city to the firehouse in Gilroy is exactly 31 miles, and to make this in an hour one must make better than a mile in two minutes. This is wonderfully fast riding, as it is at the rate of about 30 miles an hour.

The indications are that a large crowd of motorists will see Eisentraut make the test next Sunday.

[As far as I can tell, the road in 1914 from San Jose to Gilroy was what's now highway 101. According to A Brief History of Gilroy, "In 1906, a large crowd celebrated the opening of Gilroy’s new City Hall at Sixth and Monterey Streets; it housed Gilroy’s first public library, a jail, the courtroom and judge’s chambers, and the city’s early police and fire departments." Here is what a bicycle route from the two points above would look like, today. - MF]

EISENTRAUT WILL GO FOR RECORD NEXT SUNDAY - San Jose Mercury-news, 26 July 1914